Apparatus for unwinding and winding web material



Oct. 25, 1 949. E. w. cLEM APPARATUS FOR UNWINDING AND WINDING WEBMATERIAL Filed May 3l, 1945 Ly v'erer, UL Clem 3 Sheets-Sheet 1ation-neg oct. 25, 1949. E. w. CLE'M 2,486,006

APPARATUS FOR UNWINDING AND WINDING WEB MATERIAL Filed May 31, 1945 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Jnventor 3 uere U). Clam.

3u LU'iness Mm Herber 6. Covey e Gttorneg oct. 2s, 1949.

E. W. CLEM APPARATUS FOR'UNWINDING AND WINDING WEB MATERIAL Filed May3l, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Uhness Herber. 8. Covey iuere LU. Cle mPatented Oct. 25, 1949 APPARATUS FOR UNW INDIN G AND WINDING WEBMATERIAL Everett W. Clem, Shrewsbury, Mass.. assignor to Rice BartonCorporation, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of MassachusettsApplication May 31, 1945, Serial N0. 596,854 l 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-65)This invention relates to paper winding apparatus and more particularlyto apparatus arranged for unwinding thin or fragile paper from a rolland rewinding it on a cylinder roll.

In the production of paper, a suspension of wood pulp is flowed onto anendless wire in a Fourdrinier machine, or the screen surface of acylinder mold, and the formed web is then passed continuously through aseries of driers and calendering rolls, after which it is wound onto aspool by means of a reel, such as a Pope reel of the type shown in thepatent to Pope #1,248,542 of September 4, 1917. In that system, the.paper must be wound without stopping as fast as it is produced by thepaper making machine, and the resultant roll may have many imperfectionsand breaks in the paper. Hence, it is customary to mount the spool ofpaper on a freely rotatable support and to rewind the paper as a fullwidth roll, or to pass the strip over slitters and form separate narrowrolls. The paper making machine requires an initial Winding of the paperas it comes from the calenders at a high rate of perhaps 1500 feet perminute. But, in the rewinding of this paper, it is necessary to runi'therewinder at perhaps twice that speed in order to give the operator ampletime within which he may stop the machine and make suitable spliceswhere the paper has been broken.

The standard rewinding operation serves for many types of paper,particularly those which are strong and capable of withstanding thecomparatively high tensions involved in unwinding the rst roll bydrawing the paper therefrom by sufcient tension to rotate the spool, butit is found that this standard procedure is not suitable for crepe andtissue or other light Weight and fragile papers. The supply spool ofpaper that is to be rewound may weight several thousand pounds; hencethere is a high tensional pull involved in drawing the paper from thisroll, and that tension will change as the roll decreases in size. Also,if it becomes necessary to stop the rewinding mechanism in order to makean invisible slice in the paper where there has been a break, then themomentum of the rapidly moving supply spool will unroll a long strip ofthe paper onto the floor. It has been customary to provide a brake forthe unwinding supply roll which gives a required tension on the roll atall times and stops it when the winding roll is stopped. But thechanging size and mass of the unwinding roll creates problems inacceleration and deceleration and the standard brake mechanisms will notprovide a uniform tension and a constant speed of unwinding. Themechanical brake as commonly used comprises a brake band on a small drumconnected with the shaft of the unwinding spool, and its frictional gripis provided by a manually adjusted screw applying force through a fixedleverage. However, as the unwinding roll becomes smaller in size, thefrictional force automatically increases because of the decreasingleverage of the pull of the paper which serves to rotate the unwindingroll. An electrical brake mechanism may comprise an electric generatoradapted to be driven by the unwinding roll which sends power back intothe line. The `amount of braking elort required may vary from a positiveto negative value and pass through the zero point; hence electricalregulation has been found to be inadequate. Also, the windage of thearmature and other forces cause a variation in the braking effect. Forsuch reasons, the standard methods will not serve for unwinding andrewindng a crepe or thin tissue paper.

1n is the primary object of this invention to overcome these variousproblems and to provide an unwinding-winding apparatus in which a rollof paper may be unwound at a given rate and rewound on another roll at adesired peripheral rate and wherein the paper is held under a controlledpositive or negative tension between the unwinding and winding zones.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thistype wherein a massive roll of paper to be unwound is initially broughtup to a correct speed of rotation and the paper is thereafter ledforward to the Winding part of the apparatus and rewound at thatrequired speed, so that no undesirable tension is imposed on the paperwhen a new supply roll is mounted for rotation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction wherebyspools of paper may be unwound and rewound continuously without stoppingthe apparatus, and the leading edge of a new strip of paper from anothersupply roll may be carried through from the unwinding half to theWinding portion of the machine While the end of the paper of the rstsupply roll is passing through the machine, so that the apparatus neednot be stopped for changing supply rolls or for removing a finishedrewound roll.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of thisgeneral type wherein an empty spool which is to receiveV the paper isbrought up to full speed before it is permitted to contact.

the paper that is being wound on a nearly completed roll, and whichthereby permits the strip of paper to be cut and automatically broughtinto terrupting the operation of the machine or en-Y dangering the paperbecause of the accelerating load. Various other objects will be pointedout or made apparent in the following disclosure.

In accordance with this invention, I propose Y arsaooe short'shaftIs'suaabiy supportednm its bearings and this shaft I9 is in turn drivenby means of expansion sheaves 2t) driven by V belts 2l (Fig.V

2) from a further sheave 22 carried on the axle CFI - the assembly. Theshaft 23 is driven by a pulley to usetwo machines 'of the general typeshown in said Pope patent, or equivalent constructions,

wherein one is used for unwinding and supplying paper to a secondmachine which receives and winds the same in va finish roll. Thesemachines are arrangedV back to back, as it were, and are sointer-connected so that the paper rolls are driven at the same or adesired peripheral rate. Mechanism is provided for starting a supplyspool into full speed rotation before it engages the driving drum of theunwinding machine, and the winding machine comprises mechanism forrotating an empty spool at full peripheral speed rotation prior to itsreceiving the paper to be wound thereon. The parts are so constructedand arranged that the unwinding-winding operation may be carried oncontinuously and without interruption.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferredV embodiment of thisinvention:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the complete winding and unwindingapparatus in which the un- Winder has a new supply roll being initiallybrought up to speed while the` old supply roll is nearing the end of itsrun, and in which the Winder has the paper starting on an empty spoolwhile a full size roll is positioned for removal;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail. showing theA mechanism for starting theempty spool in rotation;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the operation of the machine andthe positions of the parts of the two machines, in which a new supplyroll of the unwinding machine has been started in rotation and swunginto contact with the main driving drum just before the paper has run oia previous supply roll, and in which an empty spool is positioned on thewinding machine for starting rotation while an almost completed spoolcontinues to wind the paper; and

Fig 5 is a similar diagrammatic view in which the now empty first supplyspool has been removed from the unwinding machine, and the new unwindingspool is about to be swung to a second unwinding position; while thewinding machine has the roll transfer arms arranged to transfer a partlyfilled spool to a secondary nal position so that a new spool may be putinto place.

In Fig. 1 I have shown an unwinding machine at the left and a windingmachine at the right which may be constructed Aas shown in' said patent,or as desired, except as herein described. Referring iirst to theunwinding machine, a vroll of paper I may be unwound and fed forward tothe winding zone by means of a power rotated drum I2 having acylindrical surface arranged to engage the periphery of the paper rolland unwind the same by frictional contact therewith. This drum I2 hasits axle I4 suitably mounted in bearings I carried by side standards ofthe machine. Although the drum may be driven by electrical drivemechanism, such as a constant speed direct current motor provided with asuitable variable speed and other desired controls, I have shown it, forthe sake of simplicity of illustration, as driven by means of a gear II(Fig. 2) at the end of'shaft I4 which yin turn meshes with aA furthergear I8 mounted on a 2 3 mounted in suitable bearings on the frameworkof the winding machine at the right handV side of 24 and driving belt25, which receives its power from a suitable electric or other type ofmotor. The shaft 23 carries a further drum 28 which is the driving powerfor windingthe paper on the slit the paper 3l held thereaganst by aguide 32.

In order that the unwinding operation may be continuous, I rst mount theshaft 33 of the supply spool 36 on a pair of side arms 35 of theunwinding machine and then transfer the same to a pair ofV running arms36 which hold the supply roll against the drum I2. The side arms 35 arefixed on a suitable pivot shaft 37 carried in bearings on the framework.The arms 35 are so arranged that a new supply roll 34 in its full sizemay be held initially out of contact withY the driving drum I2 but canbe moved downward into peripheral engagement therewith. Similarly, theother arms 35 are pivoted on short shafts 39 on the side frames arrangedabove the axis of the shaft It. Each of these arms 35 and 36 is providedwith a slotted or yoke portion so oonstructed and located that the yokesmay be moved to positions, as indicated at the left hand of Fig. 5,where the spool axle 33 carrying the paper roll 34 may be transferredfrom arms 35 to arms 36. To eiect this transfer of the paper roll, eachend of the shaft 33 of each spool is mounted in suitable bearingscarried by a slide block 40. These slide blocks I0 are so constructedthat each will nt between the two parallel spaced ends @I of the yokearm 35 and slide freely therein. The yokes di are anged and the slideblocks are suitably shaped to slide between the flanges withoutpermitting endwise movement of the spool shaft and the paper rollcarried thereby. The

supporting shaft 31 passes through the machine, and each of the arms 35is keyed to the shaft so that the shaft will rock the arm 35 asrequired. The shaft 3'I is rocked by suitable mechanism, such as thehand Wheel 44 having a small gear 45 fixed to its shaft and in turnmeshing with another gear 46 on a small shaft which carries a furthergear 4'I meshing with a large gear 48 fixed to the shaft 31, so thatturning the hand wheel will swing the arms simultaneously as required.

The quadrant shaped yoke arms 36 are likewise swung about theirsupporting shafts 39 by means of the hand wheel 50 whose shaft has agear 5I keyed thereon and which meshes with a further `gear 54 on across shaft 56 carrying gears 55 at its opposite ends which mesh withthe teeth of an arcuate shaped rack bar 52 carried on the edge of eacharm 36. The arms 36 are bifurcated by slots 53 forming the yoke, and thearms are so spaced as to engage the outer projecting ends of the shaft33 and to slide against the outer sides of the slide blocks 40 and thusguide and position the same.

When each swinging arm 35 is vertlcalmazs shown in Fig. 1, the anges ofthe yoke arms 4I hold the bearing blocks 40 in position, and thissupport operates for all positions of the arms 35 as shown in Figs. 4and 5. When, however. the quadrant arms 36 are swung to the position ofFig. 5, the yoke slot 53 of each of these arms is located substantiallybeneath the projecting end of the spool shaft 33, and the arms 35 maythen be swung down further so as to deposit the spool ends in thequadrant arms 36. While the arms 35 are in their lowermost position, thequadrant arms 35 may be swung upwardly and toward the right and thusremove the bearing blocks 4l) from the first pair of arms 35. This freesthe latter so that they may return toward the left for receiving a newsupply spool.

The construction of the winding up machine vat the right hand side ofFig. 1 is substantially the same as that of the unwinding machine abovedescribed. This Winder likewise comprises a pair of swinging arms Siihaving yoked ends 6i adapted to carry the slide block at each end of thespool shaft. These arms tt are made and mounted the same as arms 35.That is, they are keyed to the cross shaft B2 suitably mounted inbearings on the framework of the machine. That shaft 62 is likewiserotated by a train of gearing operated by the hand wheel 65, whichtransmits power through the small gear 66 fixed on its shaft. The gearB6 meshes with a gear 61 on a short shaft carrying the small gear 68which in turn meshes with the gear 69 keyed to the shaft 62. The arms 60support the paper roll in its final winding position.

The roll is initially supported by a pair of quadrant arms 10y pivotallymounted on pivots 1I suitably carried by the framework of the machine.The quadrant arms are provided with yoke slots 12 adapted to receive theouter ends of the spool shaft 33 on which the paper is to be wound.These arms 10 are moved by rack bar. quadrants each of which has thegear teeth 14 meshing with the teeth of a small gear 11 keyed on eachend of the through shaft 19 which has a gear 18 keyed to it and meshingwith the small gear on the shaft of the hand wheel 15. The two pairs ofyoke arms operate the same as those of the unwinding machine to transferthe paper spool from one position to another.

Referring to Fig. 1, a paper roll I0 is being unwound by peripheralcontact with the driving drum I2. The paper strip passes from the rollI0 towards the left and around and down under the driving drum I2 andthence up over an adjustably mounted roll 80 having its shaft carried bybearings which are suitably carried by a slide block 82 movable up anddown by an adjusting screw 83, as will be understood. From this roll thepaper 3| passes over the top of the winding drum 28 and then to thespool 29 arranged to receive the same.

Since the fragile paper passes downwardly around the left hand side ofthe first drum I2, it is imperative that the massive roll 34 of the newsupply be brought up to speed before that roll 34 is allowed to contactwith the driving drum if the paper web is still coming off the initialsupply roll I0, and that condition is required for continuous operationof the machine. To this end, I bring the roll 34 up to full speed whileit is out of contact with the driving drum I2. The driving mechanismpreferably comprises a set of endless bands 85 of canvas or othersuitable material arranged to engage the periphery of the new supplyroll and bring it up to Speed while it may be freely rotated on itsbearing blocks d. These bands 85 are mounted on two driving rolls 86 and81 suitably carried by brackets mounted on the framework of the machine.The bands 85 preferably ride in shallow grooves in the driving rolls 86and 81 so that they will be properly guided and lie in alignment withthe roll surface. The lower driving roll 81 is driven by a beltconnection with a sheave 88 on a shaft 89 which is further connected bya pulley d@ with a pulley SI keyed on the shaft I4 of the driven drum.These various pulleys are of such size and arrangement that the endlessbands 35 will be driven at the same peripheral speed as that at whichthe driving drum i2 is rotated.

1f a new paper roll 3d is put into positionr on the yoke arms 35 andthen moved towards the left into contact with the driving bands t5, asshown in Fig. 1, the massive roll will be brought up to full speed byfrictional engagement with the bands, and this speed will persistbecause of inertia when the arms 35 are swung over to engage the rollwith the periphery of the drum I2. Then the paper fromthe new roll 34 iscaught by the paper on the drum l2 which is coming 'off the roll IU andthe two strips pass together in contact around the driving drum I2 andto the winding drum 28 for reception by the old or a new spool on thewinding machine. It will be understood that various procedures wellknown in the art may be employed for causing the paper strips to adhereand thus make the unwinding operation continuous. Standard practice inthe paper industry involves applying adhesive manually to the top of theleading end of the strip on the new roll, so that when the roll is movedforward to contact with the drum the adhesive will stick to the paper ofthe expiring roll and be drawn forward thereby to the winding ma-Ichine. Thus, the roll 34 is brought up to full speed and when itcontacts with the paper from the old roll I0 the tissue paper passingfrom the old supply will not be broken or injured, since the two stripsare travelling at the same speed. By the time the old supply isexhausted, the new supply is winding properly on the winding spool andthere is no interruption or slowing down in the unwinding operation.

A further problem is presented at the wind up end of the machine when anew and empty spool 29 is to be brought into place for receiving thepaper after the old roll has been wound to full size. The spool hasconsiderable weight and if it were dropped into contact with the fragilepaper 3| passing over the top face of the drum on its way to the righthand roll 92 (Fig. 4) that is still receiving the paper, it would tendto break or injure the fragile paper. It is therefore desirable thatthis new and empty spool 29 be rotating at full speed before it isallowed to drop down into engagement with the driving drum 28. Then thepaper that is still going to the old spool 92 may be suitably cut inaccordance with well known methods in the paper industry and be throwninto contact with and forced to be rolled on the new supply spool. Onestandard procedure involves applying an air blast momentarily beneaththe paper which breaks the paper and causes the free end that is beingfed forward by the drum and empty spool rolling thereon to fly upwardlyover and around the spool and to get caught in the nip and so be forcedto wind on the spool, as is explained in said patent to Pope No.1,248,542.

The preferred mechanism for starting the empty spool 2a into rotationcomprises. as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, two rings 9d mounted on theopposite ends of the main driving drum @d which are so resilientlysupported that they may be moved upwardly to positions where they mayengage the central shaft of the driving spool and hold it just out ofcontact with the driving drum while at the same time starting that spoolshaft into rotation. Each ring di is a steel band having a cylindricalouter periphery. It is mounted on a supporting flange 95 carried on theend of the driving drum 2d. The ring 96 is secured to that supportingflange by means of a ring @t of compressible rubber. This may be done byvulcanizing a suitable resilient compound of rubber and sulfur to theinner side of the steel ring @it and to the outer side of the supportingflange 95. The ring 9d rests on a pair of rollers @l which are pivotallymounted on suitable bearings carried by the ends of the first class rocklevers 98. The lower end of the right hand lever 98 (Fig. 1) ispivotally connected through a pin ll with the rod 102 that carries thepiston 63 located within a pressure cylinder l. The left hand lever 98is. pivotally connected at its bottom to the casing |04 of the fluidpressure mechanism. A pipe 05 and a suitable valve H06 serve tointroduce fluid under pressure, such as air or oil, to the pistonchamber formed at the left hand side of the piston 03 and thus force thelower lever arms outwardly and the rollers 91 inwardly. The parts are soconstructed and arranged that these rollers dl may be brought intoengagement with the outer periphery of the steel ring 96 and thus liftit enough to prevent the spool 29 from touching the paper traveling overthe periphery of the drum 28. The thickness and the resiliency of therubber ring S6 is such as to permit this slight lifting motion of afraction of an inch. If desired, various other constructions, such assprings, may be substituted for the rubber ring.

By means of this mechanism, the ring 9B may be moved upwardly to aposition where it rotates about an axis that is slightly above that ofthe driving drum 28. Then a new supply spoo1 29 is dropped into place inthe slotted yoke arms of the quadrants 10. The spoo1 29 ls made longerthan the driving drum 28 so that the cylindrical periphery of itscentral portion will engage the ring 96, while the bearing block l0 islocated outside of that ring driving portion. When the spool 29 has beenbrought up to full speed rotation, then by suitable manipulation of thevalve |06 therollers 91 are dropped back and the ring 94A then becomesconcentric with the driving drum 28 and the spool 29 is lowered intocontact with the periphery of the drum and is thereafter rotateddirectly 'by the drum with the rings 94 still in engagement therewith.

The operation of the above described apparatus will be readily apparent.During the normal running of the machine while paper ls unwinding fromthe roll I0 in peripheral contact with the drum l2, a new supply spool3d has its bearings du inserted in the yoke 4| of the verticallypositioned pair of arms 35, and then it is moved toward the left intoengagement with the driving bands 85 which frictionally engage theperiphery of the paper roll and bring it up to full unwindlng speed. Inthe meantime, the roll lo is nearing the end of its supply, but beforethe paper strip has become exhausted the new supply roll 3d is moveddown from the position 8 Y of Fig. l to that of Fig. 4 while it isrotating at substantially its full speed. The paper of the new roll iscaused to cling to the paper passing from roll il) around the drum i2and the two strips pass together to the winding drum. Thereafter, whenthe roll il) has become completely exhausted the empty spoo1 is removedfrom its yoke arms 38, and these arms are then moved over to theposition of Fig. 5 where the open slots thereof are located below theends of the supply spool shaft 33 and as that paper supply grows smallerin diameter, the spool shaft will ultimately engage the sides of theslot in the arms 3S, and the arms may then be swung towards the rightand so lift the spool bearings @d from the yokes of the arms 35. Thusthe arms td are returned to the position of Fig. l and the yoke arms 35may be moved upwardly, as shown in the same figure, for reception of anew supply roll.

At the winding end of the machine, the paper roll 92 may be held by theyoke arms 6G in the position of Fig; 4 in driving contact with the drum.At the same time, the yoke arms l0 are held at their left hand endposition for receiving an empty spool. Prior to the empty spoo1 beingput into place, the hydraulic mechanism is operated to `thrust thedriving ringy 94 upwardly to the positions of Figs. 3 and 4 so that theperiphery of the spool 29 cannot engage the drum 28. The ring 94,however, is travelling at the peripheral speed of the drum 28 and byfrictional contact with the spool starts it into full speed rotation.Then the spool may be dropped downonto the drum by suitable manipulationof the valve IBG. By methods well known to paper makers the paper sheetthat has been winding on the spool 92 is severed and the advancing freeend is caused to wrap around the empty spool and thus be wound thereon.Then the fully wound spool 92 is swung to the right away from thedriving drum 28 and the paper roll may be removed by means of theeyelets |08 secured to the bearing blocks which may be engaged by thehooks of a chain hoist.

When the new winding roll has attained a sumcierit size so thatpreparation must be made for putting an empty spool into place, then thetwo pairs of supporting arms 60 and 'l0 are moved into the positions ofFig. 5 and the paper spoo1 is transferred to the arms 60 where itsbearings 0 are held in position by the yokes. Then as the spool 92 growsin size the ends of the spool shaft 33 are gradually withdrawn from theyokeslots of the arms 10 and ultimately the arms 'i9 may be swung backto the receiving position of Figs. 1 and 4. where a new supply spool maynow be put into position. When the spools are held in the arms 36 andlll, the eyelets |08 tend to swing to a lowermost position and by theirweight hold the bearing blocks 40 from revolving. The eyelets are shownupright in the yoke arms 3d and 'l0 for the sake of clarity ofillustration.Y Thus the operation of unwinding and rewinding webmaterial is carried on continuously and at a uniform speed for both theunwinding and winding spools.

It will now be appreciated that various modications may be made in boththe unwinding and winding halves of the machine, and that the apparatusis adapted for winding various other types of fragile webs such asdelicate fabrics. At the unwinding end of the apparatus the new supplyroll may be brought up to full speed by other mechanical devices such asan electric aasaooo motor connected temporarily to the roll that isdriven at the required rate to obtain peripheral synchronism of thesupply spool with the drum. Also, the reeling device illustratedparticularly in Fig. 3, which includes the resiliently positioned ring94 for starting an empty spool into rotation on the winding apparatusmay be employed in association with a paper making machine so that thedried web of paper may be fed directly from the machine to that Winderand it will not be injured by contact of the stationary empty spool withthe rapidly moving paper. This supplemental spool rotating mechanism maytherefore be employed in association with a winding reel oi the typeshown in said Pope patent or other suitable winding apparatus where itis required to wind web material continuously and to bring an emptyspool up to full speed before it is permitted to contact with thewindingdrum. Also, other types of drum reel may be used in place of thePope reel above described. For eX- ample, the swinging arms whichsupport the paper spools may be replaced by inclined planes, either xedor movable, along which the spools may roll or their bearings slide asthe paper roll increases or decreases in size. In such a construction, anew roll may be put into contact with the top of the drum and thenlater, as it changes in size, slid down to a lower contactlng positionso that a new roll may be placed in the top location. Hence, such aninclined plane is to be considered as the full equivalent of theswinging arms and the slideways thereon which hold the paper spool inposition against the driven drum. Also, it will be understood that thewinding drum and associated spool may be driven at a differentperipheral rate from that of the unwinding drum and spool, such as wherea creped paper is stretched'out to a desired extent during winding. Thatis, I drive the two drums at a related or regulated peripheral rate sothat the process of winding is continuous. This is accomplished by usinga Reeves variable speed drive or by means of interrelated electricalregulating mechanism or by manual control, as is well understood.

It is therefore to be understood that the above disclosure is to' beinterpreted as describing the principles of my invention and a preferredembodiment and not as imposing limitations on the claims appendedhereto.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for unwinding and winding web material comprising rotatablecylindrical unwinding and winding drums, a set of rock arms associatedwith each drum and arranged to removably hold two spools oi web materialin two peripheral rolling contacting positions on the associated drum,means whereby a spool may be transferred from one position to the otherduring operation of the machine and means for rotating the two drums atthe same peripheral rates and causing the web to be unwound by one drumas it is wound up by the other and to'maintain a substantially uniformtension thereon.

2. Winding apparatus comprising a power driven rotatable cylindricaldrum, a support for holding an empty supply spool in or out ofperipheral contact with the drum, a rotatable ring engageable with theperiphery of the supply spool and means for moving the ring intoengagement with said spool and rotatably holding it out of contact withthe drum and initially starting the spool into rotation before itengages the drum.

3. Winding apparatus comprising a rotatable cylindrical drum, mechanismfor rotating the same at a.' iixed rate, a spool for winding webmaterial having a peripheral surface portion extending beyond the drum,a support arranged to hold the winding spool in peripheral engagementwith the drum, a driven ring engageable with said peripheral surfaceportion of the spool for rotating the same. and means for moving thedriven ring into and out of peripheral engagement with the spool so'thatit may cause rotation of the spool prior to its contacting with thedrum.

4. A web winding apparatus comprising a power driven rotatablecylindrical drum, means for holding a spool in peripheral drivingengagement with the drum but with a peripheral surface portion extendingbeyond the drum, a driving ring of substantially the same diameter asthe drum which is releasably engageable with said peripheral portion ofthe spool, means for resiliently securing the ring to the drum andcausing rotation thereof at the peripheral rate of the drum, andcontrollable means for releasably moving the ring directly intoperipheral engagement with the spool in opposition to its resilientsupport and which starts rotation of the spool prior to its contactingthe drum, said ring moving automatically out of contact with the spoolwhen released.

5. Apparatus for unwinding and winding web material comprising unwindingand winding machines having each a power driven cylindrical drumarranged for peripherally engaging and moving a web from a supply rollto a rewinding roll, means for rotating the drums at substantially thesame peripheral rate and moving the web under a controlled equalizedtension, supports for holding two web rolls simultaneously in peripheralrotating contact with each drum which provide for a radially freemovement of the axis of each roll, said supports being arranged fortransferring a roll from one to another of two positions of rollingcontact with each drum, means for moving the roll supports of theunwinding drum so that as one supply rol1 expires another may be broughtinto operative rotative relationship with the drum, and means for movingthe roll supports of the winding drum so that an empty spool may bebrought into rotative contact with the drum prior to removal therefromof a full roll, so that web from a succession of supply rolls may berewound successively on spools while a controlled web tension ismaintained.

6. Apparatus for unwinding and winding web material comprising unwindingand winding machines having each a power driven drum, means for rotatingthe drums at the same peripheral rate and controlling the tension on aweb moved therebetween, supports for holding two web rollssimultaneously in a radially free peripheral rotating contact with thedrum of each machine and which are arranged for transferring a roll fromone to another of two circumferential positions in relation to each drumwhile it is maintained in a freely rotating peripheral contact with theassociated rotating drum, and means for rotating a new supply roll ofthe unwinding machine at substantially full speed prior to its contactwith the old web on its associated drum, so that a web may be unwoundfrom a succession of supply rolls and rewound.

7. Apparatus for unwinding and winding web material comprising unwindingand winding machines having each a power driven drum, means for rotatingthe drums at the same peripheral rate and controlling the tension on aweb moved therebetween, supports for holding two web rollssimultaneously in a radially free peripheral rotating contact with thedrum of each machine and which are arranged for transferring a roll fromone to another of two circumferential positions in relation to each drumwhile it is maintained in a freely rotating peripheral contact with theassociated rotating drum, and means for rotating an empty spool atsubstantially said rate prior to its contacting the web and drum of thewinding machine so that web material from several supply rolls may berewound continuously as a succession of rolls.

8. Winding and unwinding apparatus comprising a cylindrical unwindingdrum and a cylindrical winding drum arranged with parallel axes to moveweb material from one to the other, mechanism for rotating the drums atsubstantially the same peripheral rate, two pairs of pivoted yoke armsassociated with the unwinding drum and arranged to move a spool into andaway from peripheral engagement with the drum and lto eect transfer of aspool from one pair to another, a power driven band moving at said ratewhich is arranged to rotate a full supply spool, one pair of yoke armsbeing arranged to hold the full supply spool in peripheral rotatableengagement with said driven band while out of contact with the drum andthereafter transfer the rotating spool into engagement with the drum,two pairs of yoke arms arranged to hold a spool in peripheral contactwith the winding drum and to eect transfer thereof from one pair to theother, a rotatable ring driven by the winding drum and engageable withthe periphery of an empty winding spool, means for moving the ringso asto rotate the empty spool while holding it out of contact-with the drumand means for thereafter swinging the associated yoke arms and movingthe rotating spool into peripheral engagement with the drum while it issupported thereby, said parts being so constructed and arranged that Webmaterial may be unwound and reiaound continuously at a substantiallyuniform ra EVERETI W. CLEM.

REFERENCES CETED The following references are of record in the file ofthis 'pel-tent:

'UNITED STATES PATENTS

